Lock up your turnips! Priesthole your ladyfolk! Disguise your pigs as elderly relations! Pike and Shot, a turn-punctuated Seventeenth Century wargame belovedbeliked by Yours Truly is about to hit the campaign trail.

Pike and Shot Campaigns, due on August 13, will combine the original P&S, its Tercio to Salvo expansion and – the real attention grabber – a completely new strat layer. Having scrutinised the feature list and the available screenshots with my most powerful Hastings Triplet, I can tell you the following about this intriguing prospect:

You’ll also be able to map roam in a less specific pick-any-European-nation campaign.

Penury, supply issues and sieges will complicate province snaffling.

It will be possible to split armies.

Tactical-layer battlefields are likely to be randomly generated.

Owners of P&S will get Campaigns at a reduced price.

A month or two after purchase, unless you’re extremely careful, the fetching-but-fragile campaign maps will be striped with sellotape.

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Does anyone reading this happen to have a Live and Let Die licence sitting around doing nothing? I only ask because Todd Wasson, the sim physics maestro behind VRC Pro’s incomparably life-like miniature vehicles, is working on a standalone speedboat sim at the moment that might benefit from a pinch of 007 and Sheriff J.W. Pepper.

I’m worried that without a dash of theme, whimsy, or competition, Design It, Drive It: Speedboats could end-up a little too buoyant/bone dry for its own good. Yes, the physics look and sound amazing…

“The physics code is a proprietary system that solves hydrostatic, hydrodynamic, skin friction, buoyancy, and aerodynamic forces separately on every triangle in the boat mesh as well as the individual propeller blades. When the jack plate is raised or the trim is adjusted so the propeller comes partly out of the water in the search of maximum speed, there is a paddle wheel effect that turns the boat which must be compensated for in the steering. Just keeping the boat on the water and pointing in the right direction at top speed can keep you busy.”

“The aerodynamics are complete enough for the boat to blow over if the speed and angle of attack get high enough. The boat can also rise up onto the pad and virtually fly with only the stern skimming the surface of the water. With the physics model acting on the individual propeller blades, the engine trim has a large effect on bow lift and the attitude of the boat.”

But once you’ve experienced the terror of a beautifully simulated blow-over or chine walk a few times, and fiddled with the integrated boat designer for an hour or three, it seems there won’t be much left to do except tear around disappointingly flotsam- and jump-free lakes.

Watch the following video then tell me that map wouldn’t be vastly improved by a sprinkle of leapable levees, rotting jetties, and rusting LCTs.

DCS World 2’s release date remains shrouded in fleecy 15-tog fog, but a recent Mudspike preview includes some tantalising glimpses of the new engine in WW2 mode and some heartening news of the inbound performance improvements.

Module artisans don’t seem put off by the slow-to-arrive Second Coming. The list of planned DCS payware steeds grows longer with each passing month. It now includes…

The Brazilian devs plan to use the cash injection, together with a newly acquired ISIMotor source code licence, to enhance and expand their current titles. Several extra race series and circuits are on the cards. Grids crowded with Lancer Evos, Copa Montana pick-ups, ramp-happy Supertrucks, V8 Supercars and Formula V10 open-wheelers are now guaranteed, as are custom championships, dynamic track conditions, tyre damage, better drivetrain physics and sundry graphics and UI improvements.

I’d just like to say that investigating the picture of the hotel further, there looks to be a rather strange vehicle overlapped by the helmet. I can see a rear wheel, but the rest of it looks like it is some kind of cross between Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Professor Pat Pending’s Convert-a-car. (Unless there is some kind of optical illusion)

I’m a couple days behind, but I can contribute to the Flare Path for once! The last unidentified picture, the gentleman in the top right, is Bunny Currant. If the theme is the letter H, he achieved ace status flying Hawker Hurricanes. Hope that does it.

Still wondering about this week’s theme. I don’t have anything better that ‘H’s, but I’m wondering if there’s some kind of record breaking theme, perhaps? The Chelsea was the tallest building in NYC at the time it was built, Kitchener oversaw the creation of the world’s largest volunteer army, Space 1999 broke the record for most expensive British television series at the time, the Flying Hamburger broke the record for fastest regular railway connection… And, erm, Bunny Currant broke his nose in an air crash. That’s as far as I can stretch that idea.

August 13th needs to be tomorrow!! I cannot wait for Pike and Shot to have campaigns! It’s been one of the most fun wargames of the last few years for me! Going to try the Great Turkish War first as this has been an area to long ignored by wargames.

I’m so excited about Reiza getting their full funding, and more. Its crazy but the campaign is set to finish in just about 22 hours and they’re more than 15% past the goal and only a week ago it was bogged down in the 50-60% range.

If every there were a dev to deserve the support of a fully funded crowdfund its them. Bring on the Super Trucks!

Unfortunately for DCS’ WWII modules, IL-2 1946 and cliffs of dover got me covered. Im into the mondern and semi modern stuff. And good grief! When are we going to see a proper, persistent, dynamic campaign!?